


pride in london

by wobblebobble



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: F/M, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), M/M, but you know what i enjoyed it and that's what matters, have some self indulgent pride parade content, this was way longer than i intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24283600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wobblebobble/pseuds/wobblebobble
Summary: aziraphale and (mostly) crowley get all dressed up for pride and run into anathema and newt. Newt is confused but supportive for anathema and even hits a dude who is biphobic towards her. Aziraphale and crowley are nervous because they have seen what can happen to queer people but decide to go anyways. They also see madame tracy on top of a parade float living her best life. overall a good experience.
Relationships: Anathema Device & Newton Pulsifer, Anathema Device/Newton Pulsifer, Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	pride in london

**Author's Note:**

> brief mentions of homophobia/biphobia, i am sorry. although newt punches the dude who says it. also i feel like i have to mention - this includes the word queer a few times. I am very sorry if anyone had been called that term in a derogatory or harmful way, but here i am trying to reclaim it. anyways here’s the gang at pride in london, enjoy :)

It took two weeks for Crowley and Aziraphale to decide whether or not they wanted to go to the Pride in London parade. Crowley decided much faster than Aziraphale, who he had to convince. Eventually Aziraphale conceded. They spent days planning their outfits - well, mostly Crowley while Aziraphale watched. Aziraphale had gotten a rainbow bowtie, but Crowley came back from the shop one night with bags full of clothes to wear and things to bring to the parade. He tried it all on for Aziraphale and did a fashion show in the bookshop, displaying the pride flags he bought and rainbow shirts and sunglasses and trademark thin scarf, which Aziraphale still found ridiculous. Crowley had bought a shirt that said “Be Gay Do Crime,” which Aziraphale said wasn’t the best thing to wear to a pride parade, or outside at all. Crowley protested that it makes sense, because he’s a _demon_ , angel, but Aziraphale told him that he could only wear it around the bookshop and flat. Crowley reluctantly agreed, thinking it was a waste of a perfectly good shirt and that he wouldn’t have bought it if he wasn’t even going to be allowed to wear it outside.

After a few days, they were ready. Aziraphale was nervously pacing around the bookshop, picking up books and knickknacks only to put them down and then pick them up again on his next lap around the shop. Crowley tried to calm him down, but he was nervous too. It was a big step for both of them - sort of a large coming out ceremony, in a way. Crowley focused on perfecting his outfit: rainbow-rimmed sunglasses and rainbow scarf, black t shirt with “Gay AF” written on it, and black shorts. Aziraphale had opted to go for his usual outfit but with a brand-new rainbow bowtie. He stepped outside to gauge the temperature and decided that it was too warm for his usual jacket, so he took it off and rolled up his sleeves. Crowley’s heart started to blast into overdrive and he turned away to look into the mirror one last time to avoid having to look at Aziraphale, who pretended not to notice.

“Dear, I must admit I’m a little nervous.” Aziraphale fiddled with his bowtie. “I’m afraid something... _bad_ might happen. I hate to say it, but…”

“Angel, it’ll be okay. You’ll be there, can’t you do something to protect?” Crowley was admiring his new outfit in the mirror. “I’m a little nervous too, honestly.”

“I _could_ protect, actually.” Aziraphale said, almost to himself. He grabbed his rainbow flag off the table. “I like your new sunglasses. Very festive.” He tied his shoes and stood at the door, waiting. “Crowley, hurry up, it’s going to start soon.”

“Thanks.” Crowley took one last look at himself in the mirror and then opened the door for Aziraphale. “Ugh, it’s so hot out. Why does Pride Month have to be June.”

“So we can have parades.” Aziraphale said. “Let’s go.” They picked up their flags and left, cranked up the air conditioning in the Bentley, and tolerated the Queen music on in the car. 

Crowley drove slower than usual, white knuckles clutching the steering wheel and legs bouncing out of control. Aziraphale noticed this and reached over to him gently, placing his hand on Crowley’s knee. 

“It’ll be alright, dear,” Aziraphale said quietly. “Stop stressing. You’re making me nervous and I just calmed down.”

“Angel, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, it’s a big step. Very overstimulating, too, if I’m being honest. Loud, lots of people and colors and movement, might be dangerous, are you even sure you’d...fit in?” Crowley stole a sideways glance at Aziraphale. 

“Crowley, relax. Yes, we’re nervous now, but once we get there I’m sure it’ll be fine. Who knows, we might even make some friends there.”

“Maybe.” Crowley took a deep breath and pulled over, steering the Bentley into a perfect parallel park, definitely not assisted by a little demonic - or angelic - miracle. “Thank you, angel. I was just nervous, even though _I_ suggested it. Agh, alright, let’s just go before I lose my nerve.” He turned to open his door but stopped when Aziraphale touched his shoulder. 

“Come here.” Aziraphale said. "I'm proud of you." Crowley turned to face the angel, who cupped Crowley’s chin and pulled him close. 

“We can do this,” Aziraphale breathed. He kissed Crowley tenderly, and Crowley’s breath caught in his throat. His heart began to beat even faster, but this time not from nerves. He kissed back fervently, and they went back and forth until finally Aziraphale unbuckled his seatbelt and squirmed over to Crowley. 

“Oh,” Crowley moaned as he was pushed back into the headrest, hands gripping the edge of the seat, which had somehow reclined all the way. 

Some time later they exited the Bentley, fixing up their clothes. Aziraphale straightened his bowtie out and Crowley retrieved his shirt, belt, and (now broken) sunglasses from the backseat, blushing. He’s never done anything like that in his Bentley before. But there’s a first time for everything, and now, this was their first time at a pride parade. 

Aziraphale leaned on the other side of the Bentley, catching his breath, careful not to let Crowley see. Aziraphale took a pride flag from the backseat and stood up, waving it at Crowley with a smile on his still-red face. 

“Ready?” he asked. “Come on, it’s starting.” Aziraphale reached out for Crowley’s hand. Fingers intertwined, clutching each other tightly, they joined the parade. 

After a few minutes and many deep breaths and looks at each other for reassurance, they felt comfortable there. They enjoyed the anonymity in the crowd, but they felt connected to everyone there. Aziraphale felt a little self conscious because he only had his bowtie and it felt like everyone else was decked out in all the colors they had, but Crowley rubbed his thumb on the back of his hand and he felt better. They walked the whole way hand in hand, waving their flags and grinning. 

After walking for a while, they saw a couple familiar faces in the crowd. “Crowley, is that Anathema and Newt over there?” Aziraphale tugged on Crowley's hand. “Hullo! Anathema! Newt!” He pulled away from Crowley, who was rolling his eyes. How embarrassing the angel could be sometimes. He was really ruining Crowley’s attempt to be cool.

“Aziraphale, how nice to see you!” Anathema waved at him and smiled brightly. “How are you doing? And Crowley - oh, here he is.” She has always wondered what happened to them. And now she knew. She had had a feeling that they would end up in each other’s arms, psychologically speaking - at least. 

Crowley strolled up and raised his hand to them. He smiled tightly at Newt, who smiled tightly back. He looked very out of place. He was wearing his regular clothes while Anathema was celebrating with blue, purple, and pink stripes on her cheeks, a black shirt that said “I Play For Both Teams” in the same colors, and was carrying a bisexual pride flag. Newt looked uneasy but was still supportive of Anathema, as he always would be. 

“Anathema, I never knew you were...you know, ah...” Aziraphale gestured awkwardly towards her, not knowing how to finish the sentence. He looked at Crowley for help, who was thinking, _obviously_.

But Newt stepped in with a well-practiced line: “Yes, she is _bisexual_.” He said it slowly and deliberately. “That means that she loves both men and women. But that does not mean that she is going to cheat or love her partner any less.” He was proud of himself but tried not to show it. He peeked over at Anathema, who gave him a subtle nod, and he smiled to himself. Job well done.

Crowley was silently begging Aziraphale not to ask any more questions, and Aziraphale didn’t. Aziraphale could tell that Newt was uneasy, so he gave him a big smile. Newt seemed to relax, until they all noticed a man over on the side of the street with a sign yelling. Aziraphale tensed up a little, and Crowley let out a sigh.

“Gays are possessed by demons!” The man was waving around a big cardboard sign, glaring at anyone who looked at him. “God hates you!” He was shouting at the top of his lungs to anyone who came near him, although most people were ignoring him. 

Crowley and Aziraphale looked at each other and Crowley suppressed a smile. “Don’t,” Aziraphale begged, “please.”

But Crowley didn’t listen. He marched up to the man and yanked his sign out of his hand. “Now what exactly do you think you’re doing?”

Anathema and Newt had followed Crowley over. Anathema stormed up to stand with Crowley, while Newt and Aziraphale stood behind them warily. Aziraphale fiddled with his hands and bowtie and Newt didn’t move a muscle.

The man moved closer towards them. “Speaking the truth! You’re all heathens. Get out of my face! Go walk in your stupid _pride parade_.” The man spit out the words. “Don’t know why you’d be proud to be gay. You don’t deserve anything like a parade.” He yanked the sign back from Crowley.

Aziraphale was speechless, but Anathema and Crowley were about to explode. Newt felt like this was the proper time for him to interject. (It was not.) “Actually,” he stepped forward, “I’m not gay, I’m her boyfriend - ” 

“Boyfriend?” The man sneered. “She _‘plays for both teams’_. You sure she’s not cheating on you? She would. Calling herself bisexual. That’s just an excuse for her to screw anyone she wants, whenever she wants.” The man shoved his crude sign into Newt’s face. “Or maybe she’s just faking it to get attention.” Newt was feeling very overwhelmed.

“Stop!” Anathema yelled, but it was too late. 

Time seemed to slow down as everyone realized what Newt was about to do. The man lowered his sign, Crowley and Aziraphale grasped at each other in shock, and Anathema was frozen still. Without thinking, Newt pulled his arm back and awkwardly punched it forward with way too much force, hitting the man square in the jaw with astonishing accuracy. One might say miraculous accuracy, for someone who has never punched a man before. Both men yelped, and Anathema stifled a giggle.

“I am so sorry,” Newt said softly, stunned by what he had just done. Anathema rushed over to Newt. The man fell to the ground dramatically.

Aziraphale raised his hand slightly to heal the injury but Crowley held him back. “Angel, don’t do it. And I know that’s the demon in me, but it’s also the person in me who wants that guy to feel the pain. Don’t help him.”

That was quite a request to make of Aziraphale, but the angel obliged, bringing his hand down back to his side.

Aziraphale turned to Crowley. “Crowley, that was...quite a good punch for someone like Newt.” Aziraphale didn’t want to accuse Crowley of anything, but he was right, and they both knew it. Crowley pursed his lips and nodded slowly, just barely enough for Aziraphale to notice.

Newt found his hand to suddenly be back in perfect condition, and Anathema smiled discreetly in thanks at Aziraphale, who gave a small smile and head nod. Anathema was okay, just angry. She glared at the man, daring him to continue, but his pain seemed to have spread around to his entire body somehow, as he was currently writhing around on the ground curled in the fetal position. 

“Dear, that’s quite enough,” Aziraphale said quietly, and nudged Crowley. “It was just a remark, Anathema is fine, no harm done. No need to go on hurting him like that.”

The man stood up, brushed himself off, and stumbled away angrily, leaving his sign on the ground. Anathema crumpled it up and threw it forcefully into a nearby garbage can. 

Crowley turned to Aziraphale and took off his (repaired) sunglasses, revealing his full snakey eyes. Here, he wasn't so afraid for them to be seen. 

“You...you weren’t there, angel.” Crowley paused while Aziraphale looked confused. Crowley glanced at him then away at the ground. 

“At Stonewall.” He sighed, a little in anger, a little in relief that Aziraphale wasn’t there, a little in resent. “There were cops everywhere, yelling, poking us, taking us into the bathroom to see what our ‘true genders’ were. It was horrible. But it felt so... _good_ to finally fight back. And I know that the riot would’ve happened anyways, even if I wasn’t there.”

Aziraphale was shocked. “What do you mean, even if you weren’t there? Crowley, did - did you - did you throw the first brick at Stonewall?” Aziraphale whispered fervently, his eyes widening and mouth opening ever so slightly.

Crowley glanced down at the ground briefly and then back up to meet Aziraphale’s eyes. “I mean...in a way.” Crowley seemed a little embarrassed. “I tempted them,” he said quickly, eyes darting up at Aziraphale, who was watching him softly. “I wanted it to be the humans that did it, you know? Stonewall was a riot. I wanted it to be a human riot. And honestly, that brick was thrown extremely quickly after I put the thought into their heads, so fast that I think they had decided to do it before I even did anything. So, _maybe_ I had something to do with Stonewall. I don’t want to know. But I was there, and it was exhilarating. I’m glad it happened.” Crowley turned away a little and put his sunglasses back on. His eyes were tearing up with the memory and he didn’t want Aziraphale to see.

“Oh, Crowley…” Aziraphale breathed, touching his shoulder ever so gently. “It’s over. Look how far we’ve come - ”

Crowley turned around to face Aziraphale. “But look where we are, angel. Illegal in over 70 countries. Kids being thrown out of their homes. People being _killed_. It - it makes me beyond upset. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Aziraphale sighed quietly and took Crowley’s hand, lacing their fingers together tightly. “It’s alright. Look where we are! One of the biggest parades I’ve ever seen. Come on, let’s go be a part of it. Let’s forget about what just happened for a moment.”

Crowley looked down at Aziraphale and then at their hands, smiling grimly. He thought back to all of the history that led them to this moment. It was not lost on him, especially since he had experienced firsthand what could happen, and the constant danger queer people were in. 

“Thank you, angel.” Crowley was suddenly the most serious he’d ever been with Aziraphale. “Thank you. For everything. I mean, six thousand years and you always - ”

“Crowley.” Aziraphale was not in the right state of mind for this conversation. He just wanted to enjoy the moment. “Please. Let’s just enjoy where we are.” He turned away and waved his flag in the air, albeit weakly, taking a few steps to rejoin the parade.

“Angel…I love you.” Crowley didn’t move. Aziraphale stopped walking and turned around. 

“Crowley, I love you too, but can we please not do this now? I really can’t. And now that you mentioned Stonewall, I have to admit I’m a little afraid.”

Crowley stepped forward to meet Aziraphale and took his elbow. “Please don’t be afraid.” He tilted his head down and kissed the angel, who happily obliged, forgetting where they were for a moment.

Anathema and Newt watched the man hobble away. Anathema had never sat down with Newt to officially “come out” to him, she had just been watching a Harry Potter movie when Newt walked in and mentioned how good Hermione was looking. Without even turning around, Anathema said, “Oh, I know, she’s on my freebie list. You should make one, Newt, just in case.” She laughed. “Mine’s also got Drew Barrymore and Timothée Chalamet on it.”

Newt was taken aback. Anathema paused the movie and looked at him. “I’m bi, Newt. I like girls and boys. But you don’t have to worry about anything, I love _you_. You’re enough for me. I don't mean 'enough' like I usually want more, I mean...ah, you know what I mean." She flew her hands up in the air resignedly. "Although Emma Watson would be nice too, not gonna lie.” She smiled.

Newt laughed awkwardly. “Oh, cool.” He plopped down on the couch next to her, not really knowing what to say.

Anathema smiled. “I’m still the same person I was two minutes ago, you just know another fact about me now. Now go make your list, it’s fun.”

And he did. Newt’s list was very long but he eventually narrowed it down to five: Catherine Tate, Mel and Sue from ‘The Great British Bake Off’, Kate Winslet, and Natasha Bedingfield. Also on his list was Shakira, but he didn’t tell Anathema because that would mean she would know he listened to her music, and he didn’t necessarily want her to know that. But she already did.) Anathema agreed with his list except Mel and Sue. 

Anathema and Newt looked back at the angel and demon, who were staring up at a parade float in the shape of a giant crystal ball.

Above them, Madame Tracy, in all her glory, was dancing. She was spinning around and flailing her arms, singing (or maybe lip syncing) “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor. Her orange, sequined dress matched her hair, and bright blue heels matched her makeup. She had a sheer green scarf waving around her shoulders and a couple flags waving around.

“Wow,” they all breathed together, unable to take their eyes off of her. 

“That’s...something,” Crowley said, at a loss for words.

“Definitely.” Aziraphale nodded, eyebrows raised.

“Huh,” said Newt.

“Good for her.” Anathema grinned and turned to run with the crowd, waving her flag. “Woooo!”

Newt waved goodbye to Crowley and Aziraphale. “Nice catching up with you!”

“Hopefully next time you won’t have to hit anybody,” Crowley joked, but Newt was already too far away to hear. He tapped Anathema on the shoulder and she leaned in to kiss him, thanking him for standing up for her. But they both knew she could have just as easily done it herself; Newt just wanted to look cool and be a good boyfriend.

“Thank you, Newt.”

“Anytime. Except I hope not, actually, I mean I will do it again, if you want. I just don’t want to have to do it again, but I will - ”

“Stop it.” She smacked his arm playfully. “Come on, let’s go.” And they did, and they had a great time. They waved at Madame Tracy and even got a drink with her after the parade, where she told them all about herself and Shadwell and how they were doing. She said that she was pansexual, and Shadwell didn’t know what that meant, even though she had explained it multiple times. They had moved in together and quite enjoyed it so far.

Newt and Anathema told her that they had moved in together, as well; both of them moved in permanently to Jasmine Cottage. They had gotten into the habit of making up new recipes, too. Their best so far was a lavender and lemon baklava, which was a mistake at first but turned out to be quite tasty. Madame Tracy asked when they were getting married, and Newt awkwardly avoided eye contact. On an unrelated note, the next weekend he proposed to Anathema. She said yes.

Crowley and Aziraphale rejoined the crowd and danced and sang along. Crowley sang a particularly meaningful song to him, “I Want to Break Free” by Queen, and Aziraphale pretended not to notice the significance. He applauded when Crowley was done and took his hand in his own. They ended up enjoying themselves and planned to go next year. 

At the end of the parade, they were exhausted. They returned to the bookshop and talked for hours, about each other, queer history, and their hopes for the future. They drank their best wine cuddled up on the couch in their pajamas and eventually fell asleep on each other. Next year, they wouldn’t stress about it as much. They would be safe, and for a long time London would be safe. And then the South Downs, especially one cozy little cottage right on the shore with a large garden and even larger library. All in all, a good day.

**Author's Note:**

> tysm for reading, feel free to see me over on tumblr at rocklobstering if you want! <3


End file.
